In 2010, the Kansas Jayhawks played disciplined defense, let the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets make mistakes and eventually forced quarterback Joshua Nesbitt to make short throws. You know how that went. This time around, Kansas fans are worried Tevin Washington's capable passing might be enough to carry the Jackets out of upset reach.
Here's Kansas blog Rock Chalk Talk, sharing concerns with Georgia Tech blog From The Rumble Seat:
Aqib Talib is not walking through that door and the potential Tech passing game is the biggest concern. Kansas seemed to gameplan fairly well against the run last year and Tech just couldn't execute in the passing game so it played right into what Kansas does well.
Kansas has struggled early this year in pass coverage and their isn't much to indicate that a change is on the way. Honestly we're all hoping that the Tech passing game was somehow a result of the level of competition in the first two games, but that's just wishful thinking. If Kansas can find a way to slow the passing game down they will be in trouble.
Meanwhile, FTRS cautions against expecting too much from Tech's sudden passing game, via small sample sizes and overwhelmed competition:
I don't think it's necessarily Tevin's abilities as much as Paul Johnson feels like he needs to build confidence in his receivers. So often in 2010, we would drop passes in clutch situations because we were only calling receivers' numbers during end game hail mary situations. We turned our passing game into a display of last ditch futility rather than being a part of our normal offense. We also need to consider our opponents. Western Carolina is a BAD I-AA team. Middle Tennessee was skunked by Tech last year with an arguably better team so passing game's game stock may be a little overvalued (Groupon).
The answer is somewhere in between, of course. Washington is already a far better passer than Nesbitt ever was, but Tech isn't going to rank in the top 10 in passing for very much longer.
For more, visit Georgia Tech blog From The Rumble Seat and Kansas blog Rock Chalk Talk.